Pieces Of A Paper Heart
by Schmelly Inc
Summary: .::All she sees are hollow colors, desperate to show so much more. He helps her realize that you don't need a heart to create something special. All you need is a little hope::.  AxelNamine Always!


Hey everybody, it's me again! I found this fic when I was looking through one of my old notebooks and I really wanted to put it up. So, I fixed it up, typed it up, read and reread it, and **_PRESTO! _**Here it is! I'm just going to say...or perhaps warn that it is totally cornball and I suppose fluff, but it was really fun to write and I really like it :3 I hope you do too! Don't forget to read and review y'all. I hope there aren't too many mistakes...but nobody's perfect.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts and/or any of the characters, they belong to Square Enix and Disney.**

As usual, the thoughts are in _italics _and they belong to Axel. It's fun to write his thoughts...heehee nevermind.

**ENJOY!**

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**.::Pieces Of A Paper Heart::.**

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Axel wasn't exactly a fan of having to endlessly watch the little memory witch. Everyday for two quarters of his valuable day he had to sit in a eye burningly white room in an almost agonizingly painful silence. Life knew how to throw one hell of a curveball. No fail, he was always bored to the point of insanity. All she ever seemed to do was draw colorful and happy pictures that contrasted ironically to the situation that she herself was in. There was one beacon of light that managed to pierce the darkness that was utter boredom and that was, improbably, actually being able to watch her. He knew it seemed condescending but how could he complain about having to stare at someone who could easily surpass the beauty of an angel. He knew she wasn't one of course…I mean it wasn't likely that an angel would ever be so unfortunate as to fall into the less than pleasurable company of Organization XIII. So he settled for the fact that she was just eerily pretty.

_If only she would talk more…then things would be, interesting._

The thought made a grin creep it's way onto his usually placid face; which he proceeded to wipe off when he heard the doorknob rattle from the efforts of someone attempting to get in. He sat up expectantly, considering happily the thought of possibly being dismissed from his shift early. Upon viewing the intruder, he sank back heavily with a disappointed groan. It was only Demyx, clumsily making his way into the room and almost tripping over a small chair.

"Oh it's just you…what do you want? I don't suppose you're here to take over since your shift ended an hour ago." he asked the hope roughly thwarted by his disappointment.

The Melodious Nocturne gave him an apologetic look, which only increased the weight of the let down, before saying,

"No sorry…I was just here to drop something off. Naminé asked me earlier if I could get her something, and I don't ever break my promises," the water pacifier said proudly with a stupid grin.

Axel watched curiously as Demyx brought a box of crayons out from somewhere in the great depths of his swirling black cloak. He could feel his eyes widen in amazement as he saw Naminé walk over to the sitar playing goof, gently take the gift, and even offer an appreciative smile accompanied by a soft,

"Thank you Demyx"

Axel was sure that if he hadn't had better control of his jaw, it would have hit the floor. That was most definitely the record breaker of interaction he had ever seen her exchange with anyone. Why didn't she talk with him that way, smile at him the way she did to Demyx? Was there something wrong with him?

_I probably scare the shit out of her…I'm not exactly the most user-friendly guy in town…_

He was also aware that his flaming red hair definitely didn't give off the impression of a calm demeanor. He shook his thoughts away with a light shake of his head in time to catch Demyx giving him an odd look before noiselessly leaving the confines of the room. He shrugged off the nocturne's scrutiny and shifted his gaze to the small girl who was once again focused on the picture she had momentarily neglected. He felt a flicker of irritation spark in the depths of emptiness that inhabited his chest. He did not like to be ignored, especially if everyone besides him was being treated to even a little of her attention and he was being left out.

_I'm fed up with this stupid silent treatment I'm being given. I haven't done anything…have I? Well whatever, I'm going to end it._

He looked around the room for some inspiration and felt his small flame of anger die as he noticed how wrong he was when he had said how happy her pictures had been…a lot of them were actually pretty sad. Colorful, but sad.

"Why are they all so sad?" he asked in a quiet voice that he almost didn't recognize as his own.

He sat in an expectant silence and began to consider that he hadn't voiced the question at all. But then he heard the legs of her chair scrape against the floor as she got up from her table, picture in hand. His gaze followed her small figure as she stopped in front of one of her walls and added her newest picture to the growing collection plastered to the wall. He was about to repeat his question, still unsure if she had heard, or if he had even asked it, but stopped when he heard her gentle voice reverberate on the walls, as it pierced the deafening silence.

"Maybe because it's the only thing I feel that I can draw. I don't know what it's like to be happy…I don't really know what it's like to be sad but maybe being sad and hollow are alike. I only see emptiness when I look at my pictures. Colors and shapes with no meaning behind them," she said with a sadness more than evident in her voice, "You know I heard that drawings hold a piece of the artist, something special that eventually forms an invisible connection that grows with the people around them," She looked up at him and he could see tears brimming on the edge of her lash line, threatening to spill over, "My pictures always turn out so…hollow because I don't have a piece of myself to share. I'm just empty and meaningless like my drawings."

He could only watch with shame as her tears escaped the cell of her eyes ant slowly etched glistening trails that ended at her jaw line.

_Way to go, idiot! You try to start a conversation and end up making her feel like crap, oh, and not to mention, cry!_

He felt the burning sensation of guilt grow steadily in his stomach as he watched her turn away from him in an attempt to hide her tears and compose herself. He stood up from the couch where he had been sitting through the whole episode and scratched his head nervously.

"Aw geez, why do I always screw everything up," he muttered under his breath.

He edged his way slowly towards her slightly shaking form before stopping to delve into his mind for a solution to one of the many problems he always seemed to create. There had to be something he could do that would make her feel better. He'd never openly admit it but it really tugged at the heart strings, he wished he had, when he saw her hurt in any way. He could almost see the light of the imaginary light bulb that illuminated over his head. He hesitantly headed towards one of the walls, subjugated by layer upon layer of drawings. He studied the wall for a moment before gently taking down a picture of a shadow filled sky with only a simple and radiant beam of soft white light piercing the oppressive darkness that threatened to smother the whole horizon. He stood behind her and hoped to Kingdom Hearts that what he was about to say would make her stop crying and relieve him of the waves of guilt angrily lurching inside him.

_Here goes nothing…_

"Naminé?"

He could hear a small sniffle and saw her arm raise as she wiped away the tears he knew stained her cheeks. She turned around to face him and blinked a few times before looking up at his face. He couldn't help but feel disoriented as her beautiful blue eyes, rimmed by long tear speckled eyelashes, rested timidly on him.

_Pull it together man! She's a prisoner here and as an added bonus she probably hates your guts. You **ARE** part of the very organization that makes her life shit…not to mention you made her cry like ten minutes ago._

He blinked a few times and cleared his throat in an attempt to regain control of his runaway thoughts. He ran his hand thorough his hair before starting his mending process uncertainly.

"Look, I'm sorry that I made you upset…believe it or not it really wasn't my intention and since I'm being honest right now I just have to say I think you're wrong." he started slowly.

He saw a wave of confusion wash over her face and her eyes lose their moistness as she focused her mind on what he had said instead of on crying.

"About your pictures…I don't really think you need a heart to give a piece of yourself to someone…I know you don't like me very much, hell I made you cry. But I hope you would let me keep this one,"

He looked at the picture he had chosen for a second before continuing.

"I know neither of us exist…but you shouldn't let that stop you, you know. It shouldn't matter, if you feel that if you did exist that you would be putting your very soul into each drawing, it's enough. If you draw as if you have a heart…how could it really be different?" He said seriously, and bit his lip in concentration, "I'm not sure what else I can say…I don't know who ever told you that you couldn't share something special just because you don't have a heart but they couldn't have been more wrong. I mean you shared this picture with me and it already feels like I have a piece of you with me that I can always keep…" he trailed off tentatively.

He looked up from staring at his boots and felt a warm feeling when he saw that she no longer had any remains of tears in her eyes and a bashful smile was pulling at the corners of her mouth.

_Wow, I really can have a way with words…when I want to that is._

He snuck a quick glance at the small clock above the white room door before returning his gaze to Naminé.

"Well my shift's just about finished…so I guess I'll be taking my picture and I don't ever want to see you cry because of some stupid thing that comes out of my mouth, I'd honestly rather have you slap me than cry about me…got it memorized? He said with genuine honesty.

She nodded in agreement with a small smile, so he turned to leave but her gentle voice called out,

"Wait…"

He stopped and turned around, eyeing the girl curiously. He looked down in amazement as he felt her delicate hand intertwine with his. She gave him a rare smile and gently squeezed his hand.

"Thank you…what you said, really meant a lot to me and you're wrong."

He knew his face crinkled in confusion at what she said but it melted away to a look he couldn't describe as she took him by surprise by leaning up and giving him a small kiss on his cheek. He felt the spot, where her lips had tenderly touched his skin, grow warmer than the heat that constantly ran through his blood. It was a different warmth that he only wished would last forever. He was still a bit confused by what she had said…but then her sweet voice dissipated that confusion.

"You said that I didn't like you very much…"

He watched as she shyly looked at her feet before looking up and finishing her sentence,

"You were wrong."

He could feel his cheeks redden, it was new and strange but also nice. He gave her small hand a squeeze in return before shifting out of his rare and sensitive side.

"Yeah well, even someone as good looking as me has some momentary lapses in judgment," he said with a smirk that made her cheeks adopt a rosy blush.

He gently and reluctantly released his hand from hers before turning to the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow Naminé," he said with a quick wink, "You know...if you surprise me with a special picture I might surprise you with something in return…what do you say?" he said hopefully.

She gave him a coy look before replying,

"I guess we'll see tomorrow what I say…if I have a picture you owe me a surprise."

"Sounds fair," he said.

On that note, he exited the luminous white room with a grin dancing impishly on his face. He couldn't wait for tomorrow, somehow he already knew what she would say…he knew there would be a picture waiting for him, and he knew she would get the surprise he had promised.

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Well that was it! I hope you enjoyed it! When and if you review, but I hope you do, tell me if you think I should write a sequel about Axel's surprise for Namine. I'm getting all sorts of ideas already...my brain almost hurts lol. Well I really want to know what you think. Leave a review and you'll get a cookie heehee!

Well until next time!

Love Always,

Schmelly Inc. mwahz!


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